Andy Murray looks ahead to Wimbledon at the All England Club on Saturday.
Andy Murray:
(on the pressure of playing in front of a home crowd)
“Yeah, I think everyone handles certain situations differently. Yeah, I’ve always enjoyed playing here. I’ve played some of my best tennis here over the course of my career. But, yeah, I mean, I like being nervous before a match. Maybe some players don’t like that. I get very nervous before matches here, but I often feel like that helps me play my best tennis. It maybe helps me concentrate better. Some people may feel like they make bad decisions on the court or they don’t move as well or whatever it is. You know, I just feel like it makes me focus my mind a bit better.
Andy Murray:
(on how winning the Olympic Gold medal at Wimbledon and then the US Open has helped him grow as a player)
“Yeah, I think both of them obviously will have helped me in different ways. But I think also the Wimbledon final last year was important for me. The couple of weeks after that, as well. You know, I think in my career there’s normally been quite gradual sort of progress most years with my results and things. And I think, yeah, the Wimbledon final was really tough, but I played well in that final and basically I’d gone for it. There’s some shots I would have liked to have changed. But, you know, I went for it and lost the match kind of on my terms. I felt I didn’t just sort of sit back and wait. I think that’s maybe why I managed to recover from that defeat well. I didn’t come off the court thinking kind of, What if? You know, I got back on the practice court five, six days later and I felt great; whereas when I’d lost in slam finals before – well, you saw my results for a few months afterwards. I hadn’t dealt with it particularly well. A combination of that final and the way I played in it, and also having the Olympics to look forward to, I think that was the period that changed me, you know, changed my mindset a bit.”
